4th April 2006
WGUK Championships Report
Brentwood International Centre in Essex called once again for the 2006 British Winterguard Championships and the culmination of the past 6 months work ready to be put on display for the last time.
Open
Class Prelims
Now competing with their full compliment of 15 members, the Open
Guard had been pushing close to the top spot most of the season and
prelims was no different. A good solid performance of their
"Hymn To Love" show placed us in 2nd Place only 0.5 behind
the Guard in 1st Place and it looked like all to play for in the
evening finals.
Cadet Class Finals
The Rugrats had been slowly catching up with the class leaders all season but could they take things one step further on the "big day". Their "Puzzle" show had really come together over the previous few weeks and when the top two scores were announced and there was 12 points between 1st and 2nd place it seemed difficult to imagine that they had won the class for the 2nd year in a row (with 10 of the 16 members being brand new to the activity) - but they did and were crown British Cadet Class Champions for 2006. A fabulous achievement for all involved
Junior Class Finals
The 16 members of the Junior Guard were performing a much more mature
show than in previous years, with a mix of hip/hop, rap and classical
music to a show entitled "One Opportunity" and perform it
they did. With by far their best performance of the
season, this young group was rewarded with 4th Place
(out of 12) only just missing a medal position by 0.3 of a point!!!
A
Class Finals
The A Guard had had a bit of a rollercoaster of a season this
year. With over 50% of the members brand new to Winterguard, they
started out in January with a very incomplete production but as the
weeks progressed so did the members and their performance. Over
the previous couple of contests "The Giving Tree" had begun
to come together and from being a mid-range show earlier in the year
the smiles across the 9 members faces said it all when they were
announced Runners Up in the A Class and Silver Medallists. A
brilliant achievement.
Open
Class Finals
And so to the finale of the 2006 season - the Open Class
Finals. The standard of the previous couple of Guards to perform
before us was definitely going to put the pressure on and with a few
uncharacteristic drops maybe, just maybe, these could cause us an
issue. Whilst the overall performance level was up from the
morning was it up enough!! Well it was close but we held onto
the Runners Up spot, although 3rd Place were on our tails and the 1st
Place moved away from us, and we were announced 2nd Place and Silver
Medalists.
So that concluded, not only another successful competitive season for the Southern Knights but also with membership up by nearly 45% from 2004/5 and now a waiting list to join at the younger end, a successful year organisationally as well.
Exciting ideas are already being formulated for the 2007 season, some of which will be announced soon, but in the meantime a full summer schedule (which starts, after a well deserved rest, just after Easter) is being planned.
Finally, we wish all those competing in the marching band/Drum Corps season all the very best for the summer and look forward to another exciting chapter in SK Winterguard history to unfold in 2007.